[…] You know that spot where I made my brother and all my brother-in-laws stand for a picture before they went out shootin’ (yes I said “shootin”…I thought it would fit the picture) ?? To read more about this picture and Andy’s need to do the fake guns pose, go HERE. […]
The idea of doing this post just makes me want to throw up! In a good way though…
I have SOOOO much I need to get done- not kidding- I got an email this morning that had “URGENT” in the subject line and then requested I respond “asap”….I never minded that acronym a.s.a.p until a guy I used to work with brought to light how rude it actually is….now I can’t stand it :-) The truth is- I’m waiting on an answer from another client before I can get an answer to that client. I’m hopeful I can respond at my earliest convenience :-)
So yes- I have so much a I need to get done and there is SOOOO much to report on our awesome family weekend! I don’t even know how to put it into words. It was so “us”. It was crazy (flat-out psychotic at times), lazy, fun, relaxing, busy, too short and too much fun all balled into one weekend. The pool, paired with Ryan’s mojitos, Zane’s margaritas, DQ Dilly Bars, bright sun shine, babies, toddlers, etc…it was all perfect! Sunburns were received, drinks were consumed, laughs were busted out and……guns were shot…..
I know I’ve confused you all…so now I’m just going to confuse you more :-)
Any guesses on what they’re doing??
They are making a cardboard cut-out of Caroline to take out to the ranch with them in the morning. That is correct- they made a cardboard cut out of Caroline and then went and shot at her the next morning. Here is a picture of all our little adventurers before they left in the morning. We refrained from having them hold guns because we thought that would be taking it too far on the Hoosier scale :-) Andrew was absolutely giddy with excitement to get all the guys out there!
They had all these grand dreams of getting pictures of themselves riding a horse and shooting a gun at the same time. I kept joking that they were going to try and recreate scenes from Blazing Saddles….since it’s often quoted….horrible.
apparently she was riddled with 100’s of gunshot wounds. Poor thing. I forgot to get a picture of her with her cut-out. We also found out that Todd is an excellent Marksman and we are now certain that he is an assassin. None of us truly know what Todd’s job is and we have never really been able to put one label on it. We know he’s in finance and he’s pretty good at it, but that’s about it….
Well…after the little target practice shindig….we are 100% sure that he’s not in finance, but rather he’s in the business of sniper shooting. Good to know- we like to have variety in our family :-)
Like I said- this weekend was full of fun things and one of them was taste testing Uncle Jim & Aunt Betty’s homegrown Amaretto. We were told it goes down “reallll smooth” just on the rocks
oh sunshine & ice cream!
So while we had everyone home we decided to get some pictures. I felt STRESS the whole day. THe boys (expect for my dad and Todd) in our familiy are not big picture takers and they do a pretty good job of making me feel stressed out and rushed. We didn’t really plan anything, but I did have a spot picked out for pictures. I get up there and the sun is still too bright in the spot I wanted….I knew I couldn’t call everyone and tell them to hold off…bombs would explode if I did that. We had babies & toddlers dressed and clean, there was no turning back.
So I (and everyone else) unloaded all our chairs and started placing people. Our sweet friend Kathy offered (well- I guess I asked her and she agreed. She’s too sweet! She even had family in town. I can be so rude sometimes!) to come push the button on my camera so I wouldn’t have to do the whole push the timer button and run. Although I did run back and forth a couple times and it made for some good laughs for everyone else :-) Caroline’s boyfriend Jared did a GREAT job of making everyone laugh. You know that part in Madagascar 2 with the Hippo Moto Moto?? Gloria’s boyfriend?? You know when he say’s “girl, you huge!” and then does his whole “I Like em big, I like em chunky…” song?? It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen and we all laugh uncontrollably when Jared does it. Jared is a big football player and we refer to him as a “bear” a lot :-) The funny part is that all the grandkids LOVE him. LOVE LOVE LOVE him. In fact- I saw Bella chasing him yesterday and whining because he wasn’t picking her up. He finally sat down and let her sit on his lap and Bella’s world was right again. I think she saw him as her protector again Max- Kaitlin & Zane’s dog :-)
So anyway- watch THIS clip and you will see what part in Madagascar I’m talking about. Jared does it PERFECT. He even does the walk and knocks stuff over as he does it. Anyway- Jared was doing that while we got this. It’s not my favorite and I know it will drive me crazy until we get a chance to do another group picture. I bunched up the left side way too much and the lighting didn’t work. I was going for little groupings but I just didn’t get it done without being directly behind the camera and modifying things….but it works and most of the family likes it :-)
Right after I got everyone set up for the picture in my Plan B spot….the sun went down far enough to use the spot I really wanted to use in the first place. I was to scared to say, “ok- let’s all move over here, but stay in the same positions!” I don’t even want to think about what would have happened had I requested that :-) I did do the rest of the pictures in my Plan A spot. Here are some of the grandkids- cooperation wasn’t at an all time high…but the pictures are still pretty cute :-) We told Bella to make sure Lincoln stayed put (we thought she would feel special if we gave her a job) and it turns out she was a little forceful about it and Lincon’s red-headed temper didn’t like it!
Then we got some of grandma & papa. The whole process was hysterical! Briley was trying to blow spit bubbles for all of us, Bella thought it was sooooo funny to run out of the picture at last minute, Lincoln just doesn’t like being contained, Carson…well…you can tell how Carson felt about pictures if you just look at his face in all of them, haha!
Then we tried to get a picture of all the “big girls” playing peek-a-boo with the umbrellas, but Bella & Briley would never hide behind theirs and Ellie would never come out from behind her’s :-)
Oh…we also tried to get some Bobzien family pictures. They actually turned out really cute, but little Miss Carolina had had enough by this point and wasn’t a happy camper….we like to think she’s is smiling in the picture and not screaming :-) Also- Andy is AWESOME at getting Carson to laugh. THANK YOU ANDY :-)
WHEW!!! It was a whirlwind :-) I didn’t get a couple pictures I wanted…e.g.- all the girls in their pink converse tennis shoes I got them this year for their birthdays. I was so sad :-( But I think we got some fun one’s that we’ll always treasure.
Once we got back- one of our neighbors shouted from their deck, “Hey Lissy- I’ll be waiting for that sneak peek!!” hahahahha! Apparently we were quite the site getting ready & heading out for the pictures :-) We did them in a field just behind my parents house and it was just far enough that we couldn’t walk, but close enough to just toss the kids in the car without their seats. Jackson & Ellie rode back to the house with me and they thought they were pretty cool riding in the front seat without their booster chairs & rocking out :-)
There were also a couple pictures I wanted to get of all the babies. First up was Carolina in my cinderella carriage. I planned on doing this when I went to Dallas but I forgot the carriage and we couldn’t find a Hobby Lobby in Dallas that had one. I was so mad at myself. I decided to go ahead and give it shot this past weekend.
Can’t you just see it?!? A little baby girl, curled up in the carriage, her little head resting on her arms and a little tiara on her head!!! Well…Carolina is MUCH bigger than I thought and the picture turned out NOTHING like I hope for…but it’s still cute :-)
Molly took this one of us trying to squeeze her in.
So then it was on to the next picture. Remember my blog post from a couple days ago?? THIS ONE. Well here is what happened.
Babies were all asleep so we decided to move them all to the loveseat, undress them and then let them fall back asleep.
um….did NOT work. Turns out Carolina was STARVING (so hard to keep track of who has eaten and how hasn’t), Brady pooped, Baylor pooped TWICE & Colton just wasn’t having it.
So we did the best we could! Our neighbor Teresa & her husband rick (sweetest people in the world) were their to witness the whole thing and I think they can attest to how miserably we failed :-)
Then I got all mean and said, “BLOW ON THEIR FACES!!!!” (don’t judge- it’s all for the picture. I’m really not that mean!)
“DO IT AGAIN!” I yelled
We got a little bit of a leg lift, but no enough. “DO IT AGAIN!”
eh! We tired. They are pretty darn cute, but again….not exactly what I was hoping for. I just really sucked at my job this weekend :-) The shoots I did for other people…FANTASTIC! The shoots for my family….ugh. I know they are cute and we’ll always love them, but for me, as a photographer and as for the vision I had in my head…I’m just kinda on the fence about the outcome. I guess it’s more of a, “I’m not happy with my performance” type of deal. I’ll get over it! I know my parents love them and really….that’s who the pictures are for!
I have Baby Trotta (my good friend Andrea’s little girl) arriving sometime in late July and I can do the Cinderella carriage on her. I can do the “frog leg” picture with any newborns I photograph. I will move along and not be upset with myself anymore :-)
So that’s what I’ve got for now! THat was one BIG post that took me FOREVER to do. I think my computer is going to explode on me at any second. Sometimes it just hates me.
I did get an email from a neighbor who said she has some pictures of all of us packing up yesterday before we all hit the road. Me, Sara & Ryan were all taking the Bobziens back to St. Louis so they could make their flight. I had Amanda, the twins & all the luggage in my car. Sara & Ryan had, Todd, Carson, Bella & Brady in their car…thank goodness for pop up third row seats :-) That little time frame was insane and I can only imagine how funny the pictures have to be. I do remember looking at our neighbors deck and she was holding a camera up, but I didn’t realize she was taking apicture of us. I’m so happy they did though- those are the moments we never get pictures of because it’s so crazy. I don’t know how you couldn’t take a picture…it had to be one of the most bizarre things to witness, hahah! THANK YOU ARTIE & TAMI!!! I will post some when they email them to me :-)
wait. she just emailed them to me. HEre you go! Actually- the last one is really funny because you can see Ryan waving goodbye to Artie (our neighbor, who own’s a bar in Kirksville called T.P’s, where Ryan used to work in college)!
Such a fun weekend :-) Our family is sooooooo blessed and we remember that each and every day. Speaking of blessed. Our dad might be the biggest blessing to all of us. Oh dad :-) We all know he really truly is the best dad in the whole world. I could go on and on about how great and amazing he is, but I think I do that enough on here :-) HAPPY FATHERS DAY. I guess I could also give you an update on him. He’s doing MUCH better and I think he actually went back to work today. He was pretty sore that past day or so, but I think that’s just from the weekend. One thing that we are all giving him crap about is how skinny he is. He makes me laugh, but he also makes me sad & a bit worried. He needs to gain weight and he knows it, but the poor guy has the hardest time doing it. He had dentures put in about 6 months ago and ever since then he hasn’t been able to eat much because it hurts & he says things just don’t taste the same. The man eats more chocolate malts than anyone I ever seen…and this man LOVES food. It makes me so sad to see him not being able to eat the things he loves. Dr. Gordon (his dentist)….if you’re reading this….please please please fix my dad’s dentures :-) He will never tell you how bad they hurt, so I’m going to tell you! He keeps telling us it’s normal and they have to “mold” to his gums, but….it’s been a long time and they are still keeping him in pain anytime he eats anything. Don’t let him fool you :-) Then added on top of that- anytime you have any sort of head injury after a stroke, apparently all your sense are off for awhile. Including your taste- so again, nothing is “sounding good” to my dad and he isn’t really eating very much. He’s decided he’s moving onto protein shakes :-) I don’t think I’ve ever thought of saying this to someone, but….dad- I wish you luck on getting chubby!
THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM & DAD FOR SUCH A FUN WEEKEND!!!!! You guys are the best and we couldn’t ask for better parents. I have a video to post that Molly made for my parents for Mothers Day & Fathers Day, but we are having some technical difficulties. I will post it was an update as soon as I can :-)
Now I’m offically done with this post. So sorry about the novel….I’m long winded :-)
Kathy says
Fun, fun, and more fun! Wish I could have been more help with the family pictures but I think they turned out just right! With all the chaos and craziness that was going on with all the little ones – it’s a miracle you managed to get any shots at all! You are unbelievably awesome…AND Jared was also awesome, by the way; very entertaining! Thanks for including me in all the fun!
Audrey says
This post makes me want/need a Mojito and a Dilly bar!
Mom says
Yes, that was an awesome weekend!! I love, love, love the pictures…all of them!! Jared, thank you for making us laugh, Ryan & Zane thanks for the mojitos and margaritas and Andrew, for the shooting extravaganza.
Lissy, you’re right it was crazy, fun and so “us” …perfect!!!
Allison says
Oh what fun!!! You can definitely tell who got all the hair in our family-you look great Lis! I can’t wait for another weekend together.
barb says
I feel like I was just there with you! Too much fun!
Jeanne says
I thought I would actually get to see Jared doing the Chunky dance/song! Please get that on video as he does none of these funny things at his house!
Caroline says
That was a BLAST!! I was sad when I woke up on Monday morning and there were no babies to hold or feed :(